


ritual

by valdera



Category: DAYS (Anime & Manga)
Genre: M/M, are they together in this fic? are they not? youll never know, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-02
Updated: 2018-09-02
Packaged: 2019-07-06 00:41:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15875010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/valdera/pseuds/valdera
Summary: On late nights, Ooshiba comes knocking.Kimishita does not turn him away.





	ritual

**Author's Note:**

> been on a huge shibakimi kick lately but the only thing i can write abt them is purple prose???

Sometimes, on the night before a match, Ooshiba will come knocking.

Kimishita is always up, always expecting him, and he yells at him for being up so late, but lets him in anyways, whether it's a hotel room or his own house. There's usually scattered information on soccer players in his room, and sometimes there's a video of a match playing in a small TV tucked into the corner of Kimishita's room. Ooshiba remembers that TV, remembers carrying it in for Kimishita and complaining all the while.

The lights do not flicker on or off. They both move through the dark. It is a comfort.

"I missed you," Ooshiba says. He can be honest, sometimes. He never fails to tell Kimishita what he thinks about how many passes he should receive, or how great he is, but Kimishita does not hate it. Does not hate Ooshiba, could never after he saw him through a fence and felt the way Ooshiba moved with a soccer ball. It is a thing he knows in his bones. Ooshiba has a type of unmatched grace with the soccer field, despite how rough he often looks.

Kimishita looks outside his window. The moon may be beautiful, but the stars in Ooshiba's eyes are somehow more attractive. It has something to do with the ambition always shining within them, and more recently, the desperation and drive to try harder. He smiles. Though it is dark, Ooshiba will notice, but he smiles anyways. He can feel the greed within himself too.

Instead of vocalizing his thoughts, he just says, "We're going to win tomorrow," and leans into Ooshiba’s side. "As a team."

Kimishita knows that Ooshiba knows that he has missed him too. On the field, his presence is always a source of irritation, and always a source for light-heartedness even in the middle of the most stressful moments of his life. And off the field, Ooshiba is stupid but honest, sweet in the midst of a hummingbird’s wing beat.

They do not talk strategy. They never tend to do. All they can do is speak their feelings loud and clear, and hope that the other responds. And all they can do is trust in each other.

It works better than it is supposed to.

"Yeah," Ooshiba says, and their conversation ends.

They sit like that in silence. Minutes pass. Maybe hours. None of them are sure, because they do not care.

Ooshiba gets up. Kimishita mourns the loss of his presence, of the warmth that is always present when Ooshiba is present. Sometimes it is soft like this and sometimes it bursts like dynamite, sometimes it is as red as Ooshiba’s hair and full with life and screaming for a pass.

Kimishita grabs his hand. Doesn't know what to say. Doesn't know what to do. It feels a little bit like magic.

Ooshiba squeezes his hand. Kimishita pulls himself up. "Okay," he says.

And then Ooshiba is gone.

Kimishita flops back onto the bed. It is soft and warm and he is tired. Sleeping well is important.

When he closes his eyes, he knows that tomorrow is an ever-changing future.

But he can feel something in his hands, in his heart, in his feet. A universal truth.

Everything is uncertain, but they are not. Everything is uncertain, but Ooshiba’s presence is not. Sleep washes over him.

 _Okay_ , he'd said. _Okay. I know you'll be by my side._

Tomorrow will not disappoint.

**Author's Note:**

> feel free to drop a comment!


End file.
